Russian Minister Provides Updates on Fatal Airliner Crash

The Latest on a Russian plane crash Sunday near Moscow (all times local):

6:50 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed a planned trip to Sochi to closely monitor the investigation of the passenger plane crash outside Moscow that had no survivors.

Russia’s transportation minister Maxim Sololov said Sunday that “judging by everything, no one has survived this crash” of the An-148 regional jet that went down a few minutes after takeoff Sunday.

Soklov did not specify the number of people on board when the Saratov Airlines flight took off from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport for Orsk, a city about 1500 kilometers (1000 miles) to the southeast.

Russian news reports said there were 65 passengers and six crew members.

Putin was to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday in the Black Sea resort where the president has an official residence.

Instead, Abbas will meet with Putin in Moscow in the latter part of Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

6:10 p.m.

Russian officials say all passengers aboard the airliner that has crashed outside Moscow are believed to have been residents of the region that was the plane’s destination. No survivors have been reported.

The Saratov Airlines An-148 reportedly was carrying 65 passengers and six crew members as it took off from Moscow to Orsk, the second-largest city in the Orenburg region along the border with Kazakhstan.

The Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Sheremetsinsky, a spokesman for the regional governor, as saying that all passengers were residents of the Orenburg region.

4:25 p.m.

Russia’s state news agency Tass says the passenger airliner that crashed outside Moscow on Sunday had been flying since 2010, with a two-year break because of a shortage of parts.

The plane, an Antonov An-148 jet, was ordered by Rossiya Airlines, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, but was put into storage during 2015-2017 because of a lack of parts. Tass reports it re-entered service for Saratov Airlines in February 2017.

The jet was developed by Ukraine’s Antonov company in the early 2000s, and was manufactured in both Ukraine and Russia.

3:50 p.m.

A Russian passenger plane believed to be carrying 71 people has crashed near Moscow, shortly after takeoff from one of the city’s airports. No survivors have been reported.

The An-148 regional jet disappeared from radar screens Sunday afternoon a few minutes after departing from Domodedovo Airport en route to the city of Orsk, some 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) southeast of Moscow. The plane reportedly belonged to Saratov Airlines, a Russian commercial carrier.

Plane fragments were found in the Ramenskoye area 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the airport. Footage on Russian state television showed them strewn across a snowy field with no buildings nearby.

3:40 p.m.

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry says a passenger plane has crashed near Moscow and fragments of it have been found.

The An-148 regional jet disappeared from radar screens shortly after takeoff from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport on Sunday afternoon. News reports said 71 people — 65 passengers and six crew — were aboard the plane heading for the city of Orsk, about 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) southeast of Moscow.

The Tass news agency says the plane fragments were found in the Ramenskoye area about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the airport.

Russian media said the jet belonged to Saratov Airlines.

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Photo Credit: In this screen grab provided by the Life.ru, the wreckage of a AN-148 plane is seen in Stepanovskoye village, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Domodedovo airport, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. Russia's Emergencies Ministry says a passenger plane has crashed near Moscow and fragments of it have been found. Life.ru / Associated Press